The Bible has a great deal to say about eagles. Isaiah 40:31 tells us:
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Psalms 103:5 tells us . . . so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle=s.
One of my favorite passages is Psalm 91:4 He will cover thee with his feathers and under his wings (the wings of a eagle) shalt thou trust.
The Bible also tells us in Ezekiel 17:3 that the eagle is a large bird. In II Samuel 1:23 it talks about it swiftness.
Jeremiah tells us that it builds it’s nest on the lofty rocks, and Job tells us they have keen eyesight and can see a great distance.
However, I think that the most precious of all the Bible verses concerning eagles is found in Deuteronomy 32:11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12So the LORD alone did lead him,
These verses speak of a family of eagles. The father eagle is there, along with the mother. They have built their nest high on the ledge of a cliff, the little eagles have hatched and are growing, but as of now they have never flown.
Now those parent eagles have a responsibility to their young. The mother broods over those young for a while, but there must come a time in their life when the mother eagle must begin to stir the nest.
Now an eagle builds her nest first out of rough sticks, and then lines it with mud and leaves, and then often they will kill some small animal like a rabbit or squirrel and use the fur to line the nest.
When the mother eagle begins to stir the nest what that means is that she troubles it. And what happens is this:
One day as the little eaglets are out of the nest playing on the rocky ledge, the mother will take the soft lining out of the nest and that night the little eaglets have to sleep in the mud and rough sticks.
A few days later while the eaglets are out playing the mother will take her powerful wings and will sweep the nest over the side of the cliff. That night the little eaglets sleep on the cold hard stone.
A few days later the father eagle will take one of those little eagles on his back and will fly high over the valley. Just about the time when that little eagle is enjoying the scenery and relaxed, that father eagle will dive out from underneath that little eagle and will allow that little eagle to fall.
As that little eagle begins to fall and tumble, its natural instinct is to begin to flap it’s wings.
And so that little eagle is falling and flapping, and tumbling. And seems to be headed to the rocks beneath.
But that father eagle is flying and watching everything and just about time that little eagle thinks it curtains that father eagle swoops underneath it and catches it on it’s back and takes it back up into the clouds to repeat the process all over.
Now why does that happen, so that little eagle will learn how to fly on it=s own. Each time that father eagle drive out from underneath that little eagle, that little eagle flies a little further.
Moses is looking back over his life and maybe he thinks of how as an infant he was taken out of the nest. God stirred his nest and Moses was put into a little basket and left in the Nile River, but the Heavenly Father swooped down and took care of Moses. And put him back into the nest.
Moses remembers that the Lord told him it would be that way. When Moses was leading the Children of Israel across the wilderness, God promised he would bear them on eagle’s wings.
Now Moses is coming to the end of his life, and he says, God has done exactly what he said He would do.
Oh, listen, God always does exactly what He says He will do. When God makes a promise, He keeps it.
If God promises a blessing if we will meet certain condition, then if we meet those conditions, He will give us the blessing He promised.
But just as sure as God keeps His promises of blessing, God also will keep His promises of wrath.
If you turn down Jesus Christ, and refuse to forsake your sinful life, when you die, your soul will be turned into Hell, Just as God promised that it would be.
But praise God, if you will trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and walk with Him and serve Him, you will have eternal life just as He promised.
Moses says, the Lord promised me that He would bear me on eagle’s wings and He has done just that to us.
He recounts the time when they faced the Red Sea before them and the armies of Pharaoh were closing in behind them, their nest was being stirred, But the heavenly Father saw them through.
He thinks of the time when they ran out of water in the middle of that wilderness and the people were thirsty, in fact they were almost mad with thirst and were talking of stoning Moses. Again, the nest was stirred, but God lifted them up and gave them water out of the rock.
As Moses shares the blessings of God with the people I think a smile comes across his face and a shout wells up in his soul and maybe a tear fills his eye as he says, Oh the Lord has been so good.
And tonight, I can say with Moses, God has been so good, and we are so blessed.
You say, pastor sometimes I don=t think I can make it, I don’t understand how I can keep going on.
Let me remind you, those are times when God is stirring your nest.
Just hold on, the Heavenly Father is about to swoop down and put you on His wings.
Believe it or not, God is good even when he is stirring our nest, or drives out from underneath us.
You would never know the feeling of the everlasting arms of a heavenly Father lifting you and saving you from destruction, fear, and burdens unless God stirs your nest every once and a while.
Some of you are still in the nest, you are baby Christians, Some of you are being stirred in the nest, you are growing and it time for you to face some battles.
Others of you may seem to be falling, you are out of the nest, and you are falling, it seems like God has forgotten you. It looks like you are going to crash on the rocks below, and maybe your cry this pass week has been, Lord help me, Help me!
But let me remind you that the little eagle can not fall faster that the father eagle can fly, and We can not fall beneath the reach of a loving hand of a loving heavenly Father.
Now let me share with you 3 things:
1. Some Are In The nest: They Are Baby Christians.
I want to say a few words to you who are baby Christians. Maybe you have only been saved for a short while. But I want to tell you have a heavenly Father who loves you and cares for you.
If you are still in the nest enjoy it. Read your Bible and pray and come to church, and enjoy the comforts of the nest.
Because there will be times in your walk with God when God is going to stir your nest and you may wonder if God has forgotten you. But
remember that all God is doing is trying to strengthen you. He will never let anything come into your life to hurt you or to be mean to you.
No matter what you have to face, God will be there. Oh, your nest will be stirred, but God will take care of you.
The song writer penned the words:
Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you;
beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.
Listen through it all, God will be there, learn to trust Him.
2. Some Are Being Stirred In The Nest: You Need To Grow In The Lord.
Tonight some of you are facing some burdens, and heartaches, and it is rough. But you need to rejoice. For it is during these times that we have the privilege to prove to the world that there is a God.
If that little eagle was not stirred out of it=s nest and if it never fell, it would never know the strength of his father, and the love of it’s mother.
I have never been an eagle, but if I were one and my father let me fall, I think I would be saying, I thought you loved me, If you loved me you would let me fall like this.
Did you ever say that to God? Oh, God I thought you were a loving God, If you love me, why am I going through this?
If I were an eagle I might promise my parents I would be good, just don=t let me fall, I promise you I’ll be a good little eagle, I’ll even be an eagle scout!
But those eagle parents would say, Son, this is for your good. And when my father let me begin to fall and tumble, I tell you there would never be an eagle that flapped it’s wings harder and faster than I would flap mine.
But, let me remind you why those parents do that to those little eagles, It is for their good. It is the only way to get to those eagles to become strong and mature.
And I can imagine that in the mind of that little eagle as it is falling, it is probably saying, What did I do wrong, where is dad when you need him?
But just before he crashes he feels the strength of his father beneath him.
Oh, Christians there are going to be times when it seems like there is no hope, and no way through, but just at the right time, Just before it looks like we are going to be smashed on the rocks of trouble and defeat, the heavenly Father reaches down His hand and lifts us up, and says Son, daughter, I’m just teaching you how to fly. And then He carries us in His hands for a while.
From sinking sands He lifted me,
With tender hands He lifted me,
from shades of night to planes of light
Oh praise His name He lifted me.
Oh, I thank God He doesn’t keep us in the nest. Or we would never learn how to fly.
3. Some Of You Are Falling: But You Have Been Caught Over and Over Again.
Oh, let me remind you that God never leaves His Own. That little eagle didn’t know that his dad was flying over him, watching him as he flopped and tumbled his way to earth.
All that little eagle could think about was the rocks below and what it was going to feel like to crash land.
But what that little eagle didn’t know was from the moment he started his fall, that father eagle never took his eyes off of him. And just when he needed him the most that father swooped down and lifted him.
We too have a heavenly Father that loves us and thank God He is always there.
Even when we are facing trouble and heartache, He is there, ready to carry us when it seems like the circumstances of life will wreck us.
The song writer asked;
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth and song,
As the burdens press and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
O yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long might dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
For you young Christians there is coming a day when God is going to stir your nest. Not because he is mean, but because you need to grow strong.
For you that seem like you are falling remember your heavenly is watching and knows just how much you take. He is teaching you how to depend totally on Him.
Oh, listen tonight, if you are God’s child, He cares for you today. Today we need to rejoice in the fact that we have wonderful heavenly Father who cares about us
